April 26, 2006
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EVANSTON, Ill. - The second-ranked Wildcats (13-1, 3-0) will look to continue along their offensive tear when they travel to take on Ohio State (3-11, 1-3) in an ALC match-up at 6 p.m. CT Friday at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium in Columbus, Ohio. Northwestern can clinch its third straight ALC championship with a win over the Buckeyes Friday night. NU then returns home to face Denver (13-3) at 2 p.m. CT Sunday in Evanston where the five Wildcat seniors will be honored prior to the game.
The Wildcats passed a critical test last weekend with flying colors, dominating No. 5 North Carolina and No. 8 Johns Hopkins by a combined score of 35-15 in the span of three days.
Northwestern features the most potent offensive attack in the country (16.59 goals per game) with eight players with at least 11 goals and four with 30 or more: Kristen Kjellman (53 goals), Lindsey Munday (35), Aly Josephs (37) and Laura Glassanos (32). Those four have accounted for 67 percent of NU's scoring. Goalkeepers Morgan Lathrop and Abby Bangser have anchored a defense that has allowed just 8.21 goals per game this season, the 10th best scoring defense in the nation.
'Cats Leading The Nation
Northwestern leads the nation in three major statistical categories and rank in the top 25 in six. The 'Cats are first in goals per game (16.57), draw controls (15.79) and scoring margin (8.36), second in win percentage (13-1, .929) and 10th in goals allowed per game (8.21). They are 25th with 24.79 ground balls per outing. Individually, Kristen Kjellman, Lindsey Munday, Laura Glassanos, Aly Josephs, Morgan Lathrop and Sarah Albrecht are among the national leaders in several categories. Below is a breakdown of where the Wildcats rank nationally:
Points Per Game Kristen Kjellman - (6th) 5.21 Lindsey Munday - (7th) 5.14 Laura Glassanos - (47th) 3.50Goals Per Game Kristen Kjellman - (4th) 3.79 Aly Josephs - (42nd) 2.64
Assists Per Game Lindsey Munday - (4th) 2.64 Kristen Kjellman - (26th) 1.43 Laura Glassanos - (47th) 1.21
Goals-Against Average Morgan Lathrop - (13th) 8.55
Ground Balls Kristen Kjellman - (29th) 3.21 Sarah Albrecht - (37th) 3.00
Draw Controls Kristen Kjellman - (4th) 4.5 Sarah Albrecht - (14th) 3.00
Amonte Named US Lacrosse Women's Coach of the Week
Head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller has been named this week's US Lacrosse Women's Coach of the Week after the Wildcats picked up two wins over No. 5 North Carolina (18-10) and No. 8 Johns Hopkins (17-5) over the weekend. Northwestern defeated both teams by a combined score of 35-15 and moved into first place in the ALC standings with a 3-0 mark. The Wildcats improved to 13-1 overall and extended their home winning streak to 16 games in the process. The Wildcats are an impressive 47-2 in their last 49 regular season games. After having their 31-game win streak snapped just over two weeks ago at Duke, Amonte Hiller has rejuvenated her team since-outscoring Penn State, UNC and Johns Hopkins 54-24.
Kjellman Gains National Honors
Kristen Kjellman has been named this week's womenslacrosse.com and insidelacrosse.com National Player of the Week after the 'Cats knocked off No. 5 North Carolina and No. 8 Johns Hopkins in convincing fashion last weekend. Both national honors are the second this season for the Westwood, Mass. native. Kjellman, one of the leading candidates for this year's Tewaaraton Trophy, tallied nine goals and two assists for 11 points to go along with 10 draw controls, two ground balls and five caused turnovers. Against UNC on Friday, Kjellman lit up the Tarheel defense-the third best defense in the nation coming in at 7.2 goals per contest-for five goals and one assist as the Wildcats won 18-10. She also had seven draw controls and caused two turnovers. Then in the 17-5 win over the Blue Jays on Sunday, Kjellman recorded four goals, her ninth game this season with four or more, and one assist while causing three turnovers and snagging three GB's
Records Are Meant to Be Broken
Northwestern 17, JHU 5
Kristen Kjellman recorded four goals and one assist and was one of 10 Wildcat players to score as No. 2 Northwestern used an 8-0 scoring run in the first half to pull away from ALC-rival and eighth-ranked Johns Hopkins, 17-5. NU's defense held Mary Key, who came in leading the nation in points per game (6.4), to zero goals and two assists. The Blue Jays drew first blood when Alex Nolan assisted on a Meagan Voight goal just 51 seconds into the game to put JHU up 1-0. It was all Northwestern from there. The Wildcats used another 9-0 run over the next 30 minutes to seize control. Kjellman scored three goals during the decisive run along with two each from freshmen Meredith Frank and Hannah Nielsen. The Blue Jays would show life, however, scoring three-straight goals, two coming from Annie Wagner, to cut the lead to 9-4 with 24:08 left. But the deficit would be too much to overcome as the Wildcats scored the game's next six goals to put the game out of reach.
Wake Up Call
After scoring a season-low 10 goals in the loss at then-No. 4 Duke on April 7, the rejuvenated 'Cats have been on a tear over their last three games-which have all been vs. ranked opponents. They are outscoring their opponents 54-24, an average of 10.0 per game, and own a 51-33 advantage on draw controls and a 30-13 lead in assists.
April 16 @ #18 Penn State W 19-9 April 21 vs. #5 UNC W 18-10 April 23 vs. #8 Johns Hopkins W 17-5
Munday, Kjellman Named Finalists For Tewaaraton Trophy
The Tewaaraton Award Foundation announced the women's collegiate nominees for the 2006 Tewaaraton Trophy. The list of women has been narrowed to 21 from which five athletes will be chosen as the 2006 Finalists for the Trophy presented on June 1st. Northwestern's Kristen Kjellman and Lindsey Munday are two of the 21 finalists.
Amonte Hiller Honored by NCAA
Head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller was named to the NCAA Division I Women's Lacrosse 25th Anniversary Team April 13. The former University of Maryland standout led the Terrapins to back-to-back NCAA national championships in 1995 and '96. The two-time IWLCA Player of the Year was a first-team all-America selection three times in 1994, '95 and '96 and a third-team selection in 1993. She also was named to the NCAA all-Tournament team three straight years from 1994-96. Amonte Hiller is in her fifth season as the head coach at Northwestern University. Last season she led the Wildcats to a perfect 21-0 record and the school's first NCAA team title since 1941, becoming the first team outside of the Eastern Time Zone to win an NCAA lacrosse title-male or female-at any level. She was later named the 2005 IWLCA Coach of the Year for her efforts.
Offensive Juggernaut
The Wildcats, first in the nation in scoring at 16.5 goals per game, have outscored their opponents by a combined score of 232-115, an average of more than eight goals per game (16.5 to 8.2). Northwestern's largest win was a 19-3 drubbing of Ohio University in Evanston March 4. They have allowed 10 or more goals just four times this year. NU has scored in double digits each game and have scored 13 or more in all but one. The Wildcats boast four players with 30 or more goals on the year, two of which are Tewaaraton Award finalists. Kristen Kjellman leads with 53 and 73 total points while Lindsey Munday is second in points (72) with 35 goals and a team-best 37 assists. Aly Josephs is second on the team with 37 while Laura Glassanos rounds out the top scorers with 32 goals.
Scouting The Buckeyes
Ohio State, 3-11 on the year with a 1-3 mark in the ALC, is coming off a 20-2 win over Robert Morris on April 23. KC Carter leads the team in goals (24) while Jessica Patane is second with 19 on the year. Kristen Slahor leads the team with 11 assists. Kristen Gilwee, Kim Hastings and Joy DeMarco all have shared time in goal, with Gilwee and Hastings getting a majority of the minutes. Gilwee has 76 goals allowed and 85 saves in nine starts while Hastings has four starts with 77 goals allowed and 62 saves. Sue Stimmel is in her 11th season as the head coach for the Ohio State women's lacrosse team. A 1984 graduate of Temple University, Stimmel is the only coach that the Buckeye program has had. Her squad won the 2003 American Lacrosse Conference Championship and was named the ALC Coach of the Year that same season.
More Impressive Numbers
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